. >> reporter: diane sawyer asked speaker boehner if you are now the de facto leader of the republican party. and his answer was, oh, i wouldn't think so. paul ryan is a policy wonk. >> i take that as a great compliment from john. >> reporter: is that your role in the republican party, the house policy wonk? >> i have also been one of the house policy wonks. my role is to continue to be a champion of ideas, to help our party be a reform party that shows how we get economic growth. >> reporter: i asked ryan about speculation that he would be an early front-runner for the republican presidential nomination in 2016. he told me it is way too early to even think about the next presidential race. jonathan karl, abc news, washington. >> he also said another reason that his team lost is that turnout in the urban areas in the country was so high, but they also lost in states with few minorities and rural areas, iowa, new hampshire. if you look at a lot of the president's poll numbers, there was more at play than folks of color coming out in support. that's one important part of the narrative bu